THE CHAMBER CORNER: WHO'S IN CHARGE

As a dynamic entrepreneur, one of the most difficult tasks you're going to face is when your business has grown to the point where you need to hire more professional staff. The task of defining a job

description and duties for this new position is an unenviable one at best. Then you have to deal with the fact that you may no longer be considered a "small business" and therefore may need to expand your operational resources also. Success and stability brings rewards, but you'll certainly earn them. But, when you have finally hired that new person, that's when the going gets rough. If you've been on your own for a while there will be territorial issues, and a chain of command must be established. Basically, whose in charge of what.

The term "chain of command" implies a superior-subordinate relationship with a downward flow of orders, but it involves much more than that. The chain of command is also a channel for two-way communication, although it doesn't mean that communication among employees at the same level is forbidden. Informal discussion among employees is inevitable, and encouraged. However, the chain is the official hierarchical structure and the vertical channel of communication. As egotistical as it may sound, this

superior/subordinate relationship is very important and must be

established and maintained.

Organizational problems occur when managers or employees ignore organizational lines. In small firms, the climate of informality and flexibility makes it easy to short-circuit the formal chain. The

president and founder of the business, for example, may get in a hurry and give instructions to the salespersons or plant employees instead of going through the sales manager or production manager. At the other end, an employee who has been with the company from the beginning tends to maintain that direct person to person relationship rather than observe newly instituted channels of communication. As the employer it is as detrimental to bypass the chain as it is for the employee to jump over a few rungs of the ladder.

As a practical matter, adherence to the chain of command can never be complete. An organization in which the chain of command is rigid would be bureaucratic and inefficient. However, if the chain of command is frequently bypassed then that flagrant disregard quickly undermines the position of the bypassed manager. And then not only does the position become useless, but the person as well. As I said, isn't prosperity grand?

Ken Parrett is executive director of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce.